The two strangers walked onward through the valley and over the rough terrain, not speaking or daring to even breathe. Pale sunshine shone down on the sparse grass and from the top of the valley peak, she could hear the plaintive birdsong turning the quiet dawn stillness to a cacophony of noise.
Jakucho shuddered, her breath billowing out in a cloud before her. This foreign chill in the air made the hairs on her arms stick up. Her clothes, tattered and thin, were nothing like the thick cushy garments that the so-called "natives" wore. The other girl in front of her was no better, wearing nothing but a thin shirt and shorts. Jakucho tugged at the ripped sleeves of her sweater, shivering.
The two girls locked eyes for a moment and a message of confusion and fear was shared between them.
Soon, they came to a stop atop a hill overlooking a wide grassy valley. It would've been beautiful if it wasn't for the nature of her being out there soon. A firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. Jakucho did not try to pull away.
"Here we are," spoke the guardsman. He adjusted his wide-brimmed hat and stood, hands behind his back, as he surveyed the steppe. His stoic gray eyes roamed over Akari first, and then herself. "You two outsiders have already been briefed with your respective missions: you are to catch three pokémon each and present them to myself and Professor Laventon." He first turned his attention to Akari. "You are to catch a Bidoof, a Starly, and a Wurmple." He then turned to Jakucho - "and you are to catch a Shinx, a Ponyta, and a Buizel."
Jakucho tried her best to hide her disdain. The faintest of memories from her blank slate of a mind told her that these tests of hers were unfair; catching her pokémon would be substantially harder than the pokémon that Akari had been tasked with capturing.
Professor Laventon tried to catch her eyes, words stuck in his mouth as he looked between her and Akari. Before they had left the settlement, they had been told the evening before, with far too much description, that pokémon were dangerous man-eating creatures and that should they fail their test, they would be thrown out from the village and left to fend for themselves.
Ironically enough, though they were deemed as outsiders, the captain, a steely-eyed woman, had deemed it necessary enough to give them "names". The other girl was given the name 'Akari' and she was given the name of 'Jakucho'. Neither were told what they meant.
And how exactly were they to fend for themselves if they had not a clue who they were or how they had come to be here? Neither Akari nor her could remember anything before they ended up on the beach.
She had tried valiantly to explain to the commander how that wasn't exactly fair. At all. That Akari was, in fact, a literal child (younger than her by years) and that neither had experience fending off wild animals with supernatural powers. The commander- Kamado, she remembered- had simply averted his eyes and gave them their briefing before sending them out of his office.
Now they stood, hunched against the cold atop the steppe as the guardsman handed them a clip of painted wooden balls. They felt odd in her hands. Too large. Too clunky. The only familiarity was the smooth red cover to the contraption.
"Listen carefully now!" instructed the guardsman. "You have until dusk to catch your assigned three pokémon and bring them back here to the camp. You may only bring your assigned pokémon. If you fail to do so, you will be banished from Jubilife Village. If that is the case-" he spared Jakucho a passing glance- "may Almighty Sinnoh have mercy on your soul. Be quick, be precise, and come back alive. That is all. You have until dusk. Get moving."
Both of the girls set out at the same time. Akari glanced at her. "Good luck, Jaku. Let's both meet here before sundown. We'll be okay, right?" Akari smiled.
Jakucho felt sick. Akari was far younger than her. Far too young to be banished by grown men and a village. She felt a wave of bitterness wash over her after remembering the thing Akari had fallen with: a tablet of sorts that shone like stars and worked all by itself.
The commander had blamed this strange contraption and Akari for the sudden plights that befell their village and since the two had fallen together, Jakucho had been lumped in with that superstition.
Jakucho's legs urged her forward, carrying her away from Akari and the rest of the group who had fallen silent watching at the crest of the hill. She could feel the wetness of the grass seep into her torn pants and soak into her shoes. The clip of pokéballs on her belt felt almost too heavy as she surged down the hill towards the river.
The guardsman had given neither of them directions to finding their assigned pokémon; that, they would have to figure out themselves.
Almost immediately after leaving the sight of the group, the scratched pokéball she'd stuffed in her sweater pocket that morning burst open. Jakucho barely had time to react as a bright blue light flashed in the clearing revealing a small blue and cream pokémon with flames pouring out of its back. It looked around, clearly confused, before its beady eyes focused right on her.
"You… you're the pokémon that professor lent me, huh?" Jakucho crouched down and offered a finger to the creature.
"Cynda?" It skipped over and clutched onto her hand, slowly climbing her arm to sit atop her shoulder. Its flames gently licked at the side of her face, a greatly appreciated warmth in the midst of the cold.
She gave the creature a good scratch under its chin. "I guess you're stuck out here with me then. If you're cold, you can crawl into my sweater pocket. It's much warmer there than here, I suppose."
The sun was higher up in the sky when they reached the river. The current was slow and serene with little fish bobbing and swerving just beneath the surface. On her shoulder, Cyndaquil busied himself getting comfortable at the crook of her neck. He seemed to like it there. She gently picked the creature up and set it down on the grass, giving it more gentle pats.
"Okay. I'm going to need your help to pass this test so we can both get back to civilization. I'm sure you'd like a nice warm bed and some food right now but if we can get this done before sundown, we can go back to that nice big building you came from. How about it? Will you help me?"
"Cyn!" The creature immediately perked up with a small affirmation nod, skipping circles around her.
"Great! Now- " she glanced over towards where the tree line turned into thick, tall grass- "our first designated pokémon is a Shinx. All I need you to do is uh-" she glanced at the bright flames pouring from its back- "you're a fire type, right?"
Cyndaquil cocked its head to the side, shivering. It sneezed, shooting a jet of flames and smoke from its nostrils. Jakucho smirked.
"Of course you are. Right. So here's the plan…"
By sunhigh, the two of them were crouched within the tall grass. Jakucho's eyes had found and followed the small body of what looked to be a Shinx. She could just vaguely remember that it was, in fact, what it was supposed to look like, but its typing (whatever that was) was lost on her. She turned to her Cyndaquil.
"When I say 'go', we jump this creature. I need you to use your flames to burn the Shinx. You run towards its far side and keep its attention. While you're doing that, I'll sneak up behind it and throw one of these at it-" she rolled an empty pokéball into her waiting hand. "With any luck, this thing will do its job and we'll get out of here just fine."
Cyndaquil gave an excited huff, crouching at the edge of the grass. It turned back to look at her once more before focusing on the Shinx. Jakucho waited. The Shinx turned away for just a moment.
"Go!"
Jakucho surged out of the grass to tower over the Shinx, startling it into stumbling backwards. Cyndaquil leaped past her to tackle the poor creature into the dirt. They rolled through the grass, a mix of mewls and squeaks until the two creatures explosively leapt apart, hissing and spitting at one another.
"Cyndaquil! Ember!"
Her pokémon squeaked and spat a red hot flame at the Shinx, making it recoil and shake to try to dislodge the fiery debris. Again, she called for the move and again, Cyndaquil forced the Shinx away. After the second hit, the Shinx fixed its beady eyes on her and leapt, sparks flying from its jaws.
She dodged as it flew over Cyndaquil's head, rolling right into a tree. Pain blossomed from her knees and nose as she made to kneel, Cyndaquil rushing over to stand in front of her protectively. The Shinx charged again.
"Cyndaquil! Use Tackle! Pin it down!"
The Shinx screeched as it was thrown back, claws flashing as it discharged a wave of electricity into Cyndaquil. Her pokémon was thrown off into the grass. But the Shinx's back was turned.
Jakucho held her breath and threw the pokéball with all her might at the small creature. To her surprise, it bounced harmlessly off the creature's hide and enveloped the Shinx in a bright blue light, sucking it back into the ball. She waited.
It ticked once. Twice. Then with a final shiver, the ball rocked back and forth and a spark flew up from a hole in the top. After a second, the ball moved no more.
"Cynda?" The Cyndaquil re-emerged from the tall grass looking dazed but unhurt. It glanced at the pokéball, turning this way and that at the surrounding tall grass.
"It's right here, buddy- the Shinx." She carefully stooped to pick up the wooden ball and felt something strange surge against the bottom of the ball. Something warm. She clipped the ball to the top of her belt and picked up her companion. "One down, two to go."
She'd begun to figure out some things as she went along. One: pokéballs captured the essence of pokémon and essentially bound them to her. The Shinx that she'd caught before made no attempts to break out like her Cyndaquil did, but it did occasionally bump against her hip.
Two: she could pick berries from the surrounding trees that, for some reason, healed the various cuts and scratches that they had both sustained traversing the steppes. They worked wonders for Cyndaquil as they kept stumbling into wild Shinx and what she knew to be Bidoof. They did little to nothing for her except serve as a sweet snack.
Three: Cyndaquil was, in fact, a fire type. Something about that seemed so familiar to her. She'd wondered why she knew what Ember was or why it was a move she could call. Why it was a move that Cyndaquil followed without so much as twitching its nose at her. Perhaps she'd had another fire type before in that past that she just couldn't remember. That would explain why she instinctively knew when to heal her Cyndaquil when its flames grew too red or dull for her liking.
She'd come to like the little creature, growing comfortable with its weight atop her shoulder as it got comfortable around her neck. It never missed a chance to try to crawl atop her head. Maybe it just liked being tall? She'd miss it when she'd have to return it back to the professor.
Four: that she wasn't all that helpless without Cyndaquil. If pokémon were wild creatures, then they should be able to be fended off with sharp objects. Jakucho had managed to find a large flat rock near the river and with Cyndaquil's help, she'd fashioned it into a club of sorts; just in case a pokémon managed to get past Cyndaquil to get at her. She'd already had to use it to fend off another Shinx that had come too close.
Catching a Buizel had been an issue. She'd had to sick Cyndaquil on a lot of Bidoofs to get comfortable in knowing what the little pokémon was capable of. Buizels were tenacious and incredibly annoying, following her away from the river and up into the flower fields and continuously dousing her with water.
It'd been a long struggle knocking a Buizel down to the point where it'd been forced to flee in order for Jakucho to seize an opportunity to catch one. She felt bad capturing the poor injured creature but if it meant securing her safety in this strange place, then it would be worth it. She'd release the poor thing as soon as she was finished.
With a quick berry and a drink of water from her borrowed waterskin, she set off farther into the flower fields to find her last remaining pokémon: a Ponyta.
She heard the creature before she saw it. The earth seemed to shake and sway underneath her as she came to a large pond. A herd of Bidoofs sat atop the sun-washed stones, snoozing. They hardly bid her their attention as she passed by.
She spotted one from a distance. Its fiery mane glittered with all the beauty of the sun as it trotted alongside a small stream, kicking up dirt and grass as it went along nibbling at the grass. Its creamy coat shone like silk. Another fire type.
What was even more surprising was that this pokémon didn't even seem all that fazed by her being there. She hardly had time to move out of the way as it trotted close, its eyes glancing at her for just a moment before it went back to eating the grass. She stole a quick glance at Cyndaquil. It nodded. This would be an easy catch. A wonderful way to end her stay out here on the steppe.
Jakucho drew a few berries out of her sweater pocket and began to speak softly to the Ponyta. "Hey there. You want some berries? They're probably tastier than the grass. Come a little closer. I have plenty."
The Ponyta looked at her again and when it saw the berries, it walked calmly up to her, nosing at her hand without so much as a care in the world. Jakucho added more berries to her hand and set them ever so gently on the grass. As the Ponyta snacked on the berries, she crawled around its side towards its back and readied a pokéball.
The earth trembled again. The Ponyta, spooked, took off, leaving its berries on the ground as it cantered away. Jakucho swore loudly and turned, annoyed, towards where the sound had come from only to see a goliath of a creature just beyond the trees. And it was heading right towards her.
Cyndaquil had disappeared from her shoulder. The creature moved faster, its red eyes glowing like hot embers as it charged at her. Its long horn was aimed at her too.
Jakucho froze. Never in her life had she seen something so large. No distant memory of such a creature came forth and she tasted something acrid in her mouth. There was no tall grass to hide in. No tall trees to climb. She'd standed herself on the open stretch and this creature, whatever it was, was coming straight for her.
Jakucho turned and sprinted towards the river, the thundering hooves of the creature getting closer and louder. The Bidoofs by the pond sprang to attention and fled with whooping chirps, the noise even scaring off the Buizels. The creature was drawing closer and closer, its hot breath blasting at her back until finally, she picked up speed and dove headfirst into the river.
It was so cold. Small bodies whizzed past her in the current and above, the surface of the river blasted apart from the creature's attack, sending Jakucho tumbling in the currents. River water surged up her nose and down her throat. She kicked as hard as she could until she broke the surface, gasping and crying and whimpering. The large creature had vanished.
Thank the gods the current was gentle and slow. Jakucho treaded water over towards a sandy bank and crawled slowly out of the river. She heaved, vomiting up all the river water she could until she was panting and dizzy on the glossy river-washed rocks. Nausea pulled at her insides. She tried to make out her surroundings but all she could see was the setting sun on the far horizon.
The river bank was quiet. Far too quiet. Jakucho slowly rose and dragged herself farther up the bank until she found shelter under a jagged rock. There were Buizels but they were too spooked from the cry of the goliath to come out of hiding. She unclipped her belt and tossed it aside before pulling off her water-soaked clothes. The chill of the air was now so much stronger, biting at her ears, nose, and fingers.
The sun was down and Cyndaquil was gone. She sat naked and cold in a dark cave with no food and no water. She'd failed her test completely and she was lost in a place she did not know. She huddled back as far as she could under the rock, drawing her knees to her chest, shivering.
She would have to wait out the night to go back to the encampment. Funny, that if she were to freeze to death, the person that found her would either find her naked and frozen to the touch or skeletonized.
If she still managed to catch a Ponyta, would they take pity on her and take her in? Would they understand if she told them about what happened with the large creature-
"Rapidash." The name of the large equine escaped her mouth easily. Rapidash, the evolution of Ponyta. Also a fire type. But it was freakishly large. Rapidashes weren't supposed to be over twelve feet tall and their eyes weren't supposed to glow a bloody red.
Jakucho lost herself in her thoughts, shivering as the moon crossed the sky. Only a small pitiful squeak broke her thoughts. She froze. She heard the sound of grass parting and the squeaking grew loud and fretful. A spurt of flames shot up from the grass.
"Cyndaquil?"
The noise stopped. Jakucho found herself regretting making noise when she was this alone and defenseless. But that was before Cyndaquil came peeling out of the grass and into her lap, shivering and squealing and… happy? It forced itself into the space between her thighs and chest, huddling closer for warmth. Like her, the poor thing was soaked through with river water.
"Sorry buddy. All my clothes are soaked through-and-through." She reached into the pockets of her pants and pulled out a slightly-squashed berry. "I still have these if you need them."
Cyndaquil took the berry in its small hands and devoured it quickly, nosing into her pockets to fish out another one. She idly pet the creature, hoping that if she didn't make it for any reason, that the little Cyndaquil would be alright. It didn't ask to get dragged out here. She shut her eyes and rested her head on her knees.
Tomorrow, when she would return to the camp with her assigned pokémon, she'd return with only the intention of returning Cyndaquil. She knew that the tiny niggling voice at the back of their head telling her that she was already banished was right. But she'd go out with pride. Not fear. She had the faintest memory of knowing how to start a fire but she'd lost her club. She'd figure something out, she knew.
She flinched as Cyndaquil nosed its way back into her arms. Its flames, which were completely put out before, flickered painlessly around her arms and legs. She only noticed then how warm the undercrop had become and hugged the small creature closer.
"Thanks buddy." She gave it a scratch under its chin. "Tomorrow, we'll catch a Ponyta and then I'll take you home where you can get some actual rest."
Cyndaquil nodded and closed its eyes, huffing softly into her belly.
"But before that, could you help me dry my clothes?"
The next day came slowly but surely. Jakucho roused herself from her dozing and stretched, carrying Cyndaquil leisurely in her arms. She needed water but she'd lost her own waterskin during her tumble into the river. She'd have to risk getting sick if she wanted to get Cyndaquil back to the camp.
The two made their way back towards the river, beating the Buizel there into submission. Jakucho swam across the river with Cyndaquil on her back and soon the two were back at the flower fields where another Ponyta was grazing. She knew better than to repeat the actions of the day before.
Just as the sun began to crest over the hills, she held aloft a pokéball holding a freshly caught Ponyta. The warmth inside the pokéball was nearly searing against the thin fabric of her pants. She checked her belt thrice; a Shinx, a Buizel, and a Ponyta. Cyndaquil climbed her sweater sleeves and perched atop her shoulder squeaking victory.
And soon, her legs carried them back to the very hill they had started down the day before. The hill was once again alive with birdsong and a group of Bidoof chattered loudly in the shade of an overcropping rock.
They were just cresting the rock when Jakucho began to hear them. The settlement folk were back.
"Nothing yet?"
"No. The scouts reported that they hadn't seen anything yesterday. The other candidate disappeared completely."
"You're quite sure? Those two set out at the same time."
"Miss Akari reported that the other candidate was heading towards the Horseshoe Plains and that they weren't seen again after. The scouts didn't find anything there either."
"Except for that alpha?"
"You know the scouts don't go that way due to that thing. Mauled one of our survey men to death a few weeks ago. It's expressly forbidden by Captain Cyllene to encroach upon its territory."
"I understand, but surely we-"
Jakucho crept past the horizon and stood, exhausted, overlooking the camp. She didn't want to hear them talk about her any longer. The professor paused and stared as she made her way toward the pitched tents. He grinned.
"There you are, my girl! Welcome back!"
Jakucho was at least glad that the professor was treating her kindly. The man practically ran over to her, his relieved smile turning into a concerned frown. He reached forward to take a hold of her water-soaked sleeve. "Are you alright? You're soaked all the way through!"
"I'm okay," she managed, still shivering from the chill of the cold. "River's cold."
"Laventon," the guardsman spoke. Jakucho looked toward them, feeling that acrid taste bloom in her throat. He wasn't looking at the professor. He was looking straight at her.
"Hide," the professor retorted. "Come now! This girl is soaked through to the skin and injured. We need to take her back to the village."
"It's well beyond sundown, professor. It's the next day. She failed the test. She's banished from the settlement."
Jakucho knew that that was what she'd been waiting for. She shut her eyes and scowled, Cyndaquil nuzzling deeper into her neck. Right. She hadn't returned to go back herself. She balled up her fist and carefully took Cyndaquil off of her shoulders.
"I know. I came back to return this one." She put Cyndaquil down on the grass and almost immediately, it climbed up her pants and made its way back to her shoulder. "I also caught those three pokémon you wanted. You can take them. They were far more trouble than they were worth." Jakucho took a step away from the professor and held out the clip of pokéballs.
The professor shook his head. "That is wonderful, truly, but you'll be accompanying me back to the settlement." He shot the guardsman a dirty look. "After you failed to return yesterday, the Galaxy Team sent out a group of scouts to look for you. It would surely be a mistake to let you go without the commander setting eyes on you and then making his decision. Let's get going. It's a long walk back."
Jakucho swallowed. "I- alright then."
The guardsman huffed and with a hand on the saber at his hip, began to lead the way back through the hills. Nobody else had woken up at the encampment and so the three of them set off quietly.
Jakucho was surprised when the professor slowed down to match her steps. He shot her a nervous but pitying glance, his hands tucked tightly into his pockets.
"I was ever so worried when you didn't return at sundown. Looks like Cyndaquil kept you safe then?"
"I would've frozen to death if not for the little guy." She gave the creature a quick pet. "Once I'm banished from the settlement, he'll be staying back in that big building again, right? Somewhere safe?"
Professor Laventon flinched. "Yes. He is, in fact, one of mine who I intend to study. I didn't have a say in the matter when the commander insisted that you prove yourselves."
"Okay. As long as he's safe-"
"She."
"Hmm?"
"She. Cyndaquil is a girl."
"Oh."
"What happened out there, my girl? Akari said she lost sight of you after she saw you catch a Shinx."
"I went to catch a Buizel by the river. Fought a few Bidoofs. Went to catch a Ponyta but then I got ambushed by a… a- that giant creature. The Rapidash."
"You got attacked by an alpha?!" Laventon yelled. His eyes, once pitiful and full of sorrow, were now wide with horror. The guardsman turned to fix them with a quieting glare. Professor Laventon fixed him with an equally harsh stare.
"It didn't attack me but it ran me toward the river and I had to jump in to escape getting torched. That's why I never made it back by sundown: I was on the other side of the river."
Laventon looked like he was going to faint from secondhand shock.